The leader of a Silicon Valley-backed plan to build a new city on vast expanses of barren California farmland says the project's billionaire backers are “absolutely” worried about the public outrage the secret project has sparked. He claimed that there was no.
A group of elite tech investors, including Marc Andreessen, Reid Hoffman, and Laurene Powell Jobs, has financed nearly $1 billion in top-secret land purchases, some of which were spent on critical Travis Air Force property purchases. Adjacent to the base.
The project, dubbed “California Forever,” is being touted as a new model to combat the state's rising housing costs, burdensome commutes and environmental crisis. But some lawmakers and local residents say this is a callous land grab by big tech companies and have vowed to reject a November 2024 ballot measure that will decide its fate.
One resident compared California Forever CEO Jan Sramek to a “snake oil salesman” during a recent heated town hall. Another suspect reportedly warned Mr Sramek that he would “run into a rotary saw” and wondered how “anyone would believe me”.
Still, Sramek insisted in an interview with the Post that his recent “listening tour” through Solano County “went really well.” And despite the huge sums of cash at stake, Slamek insisted his billionaire backers are not offended by the negative press.
“I think there’s actually a situation where there are a small but very vocal group of people who don’t like this project,” Slamek told the Post. “If you talk to the average person in the county, they're really excited about this.”
Mr. Sramek, a 36-year-old former Goldman Sachs trader born in the Czech Republic, believes there are short commutes, thousands of new, high-paying jobs, sustainable energy, vast orchards and affordable prices. He envisions a walkable city with housing. California Forever's plans are still vague at best, but the company said it will release formal details about the project in January.
Critics were angered by the group's computer-generated, cartoonish renderings of an idyllic tree-lined cityscape with rolling green hills and non-existent bodies of water that the group released in October. U.S. Rep. John Garamendi and Fairfield, Calif., Mayor Katherine Moy said the project's lofty vision bears little resemblance to the wind-swept rural landscape of Solano County.
Moi, who is at the forefront of local efforts to block the project, said he believes California Forever's investors will regret their involvement.
“I think they invested in something that they're going to regret,” Moi said.
As the Post reported in November, California Forever faced new hurdles through a protracted national security investigation by the Treasury Department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) over possible foreign involvement in land deals. confronting.
December 28th, wall street journal The report comes after the report revealed new details about the involvement of Thomas Mather, a dual South African-Irish citizen whose name is tied to many of the project's land deals and was previously listed on the Supreme Court. , reported that members of Congress, including Garamendi, are once again calling for a thorough review of CFIUS. Manager of Flannery Associates, California Forever's land purchasing division.
In an interview with the Post a few days before the Journal article was published, Mr. Sramek said that his company “had given all the information to CFIUS a long time ago” and that Silicon Valley heavyweights were He said it was “frankly ridiculous” to suggest he was behind the attack. This project will hide foreign influence.
He also threw cold water on the idea that Silicon Valley bigwigs are actively leading urban planning. He said his backers provide occasional input on strategy but are otherwise passive investors with no day-to-day involvement.
Mr. Sramek said he speaks with California Forever's investors “once a month, about once every six weeks, at the same pace that they meet with the startups they've invested in.” meeting. “
The full list of investors includes Mr. Hoffman, Mr. Powell Jobs, Mr. Andreessen, his investment firm Andreessen Horowitz, former Sequoia Capital partner Michael Moritz, and Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison. and John Collison, Chris Dixon, John Doerr, Nat Friedman, and Daniel Gross.
The company's ties to the technology industry are linked to other so-called utopian cities, including Peter Thiel's dream of a tax-paying city floating on the high seas and Marc Rohr's futuristic metropolis Telosa. This generated comparisons with the project.
Slamek rejected that label, arguing that California Forever “needs” it.[s] Just to clarify the fact that we're not doing that. ”
“[When] “When people look at the plan that we're proposing in January, it's going to be clear that it's nothing like that, it's very traditional, good American urbanism,” Slamek said. If this is a utopia, California is in real trouble.” Because it shouldn't be a utopia. ”
The boss of California Forever has accused the company of “extortion” in connection with its $510 million lawsuit against a group of local landowners who allegedly took part in a price-fixing scheme in which they conspired to get more money from real estate sales. He also faces allegations of “tactics.” Slamek and his company deny any wrongdoing.
In a bizarre development, Flannery Associates is suing farmers for allegedly: Violating the Sherman Antitrust Act through their actions.
It remains unclear what will happen to the billionaire's investment and the vast tracts of land owned by California Forever if the ballot measure is defeated in November or the project is blocked from proceeding.
Sramek said he is “fairly confident” the ballot measure will pass in November, but added, “There may be other ways to structure the project.”
One option would be to fold some of the land into the neighboring city of Rio Vista and zone it for housing development, but Sramek said that would generate only a fraction of the promised jobs and benefits. Ta.
He said the site's proximity to Silicon Valley and San Francisco will ultimately allow tech companies to build offices in the city rather than move to other states, and to build manufacturing and defense facilities at nearby Travis Air Force Base. , claims it has the potential to support aerospace hubs.
He rejected the idea that losing the vote meant California Forever was a failed investment for his billionaire supporters, arguing that “it can still be profitable.”
Moy said there are already many cities in the region that could serve the same purpose, including Fairfield. She also questioned the viability of the promised construction jobs, pointing out that not everyone could do the hard physical labor.
“He obviously has Silicon Valley billionaires as investors. We welcome them to come and invest here in Fairfield, Suisan City and Solano County,” Moy said. “Not only are we close to Travis, but Travis is actually part of our city. If people want to make things like airplane parts, we have plenty of room.”
Moi pointed out that housing prices and construction costs have become exorbitant across the country, but especially in Silicon Valley.
“That's not usually how economics works when it comes to housing, but maybe there's some magic to housing,” Moy said. “I always think that's when Santa Claus comes. Maybe he has something to do with the big man upstairs.”
